Hope for Paws staff had learned of three homeless dogs that were living on the streets of California but the dogs had been on their own for so long nobody could get close enough to rescue them.

They heard from a woman who was feeding the dogs that one of them had given birth and the pups were hiding in a cave.

Hope for Paws

So Hope for Paws found Eldad Hagar and his team headed to the spot to save the babies.

Hope for Paws

Staff gained the puppies’ trust by feeding them bits of cheeseburger but having had no human interaction during their short lives they were very scared.

Finally Hagar managed to pick one of the puppies up but his brothers and sisters got so scared they retreated further into the cave making their rescue even more difficult for the Hope for Paws team.

Hope for Paws

The entrance to the cave was so tiny it looked impossible to reach the puppies but the animal rescuers were not about to give up. Hagar had to dig his way into the cave so he could crawl through and reach the puppies.

Hope for Paws

Hagar managed to reach three of the puppies and get them out into safe hands. The puppies were so scared they were crying until staff held them long enough for them to realize they were safe.

After a number of hours still only three puppies had been rescued and Hagar had dug into the cave as much as he could. It was time to crawl into the cave and get the remaining pups.

“It took hours and hours because we had to go slow and try not to shake the earth,” Hagar said. “At the end of the rescue I was almost deaf in one ear from all the dirt falling into it. Every time a train went by you could feel the whole ground shaking. It was a pretty scary experience.”

As Hagar felt around in the dark and managed to locate a pup, his team had to pull him out by the legs because the space was so small. There was a lot of tiny pup screams but eventually they managed to rescue them all.

Hope for Paws

The rescue took over seven hours but now the puppies have been fed, cleaned and checked over and staff say they are thriving.

“They’re just so happy, they’re the happiest dogs in the world. They’re also the quietest pack of puppies, as if their mom had tried to tell them, ‘Be quiet, there are coyotes around here,’ back when they lived in the cave. They’re very stealthy,” Hagar told The Dodo.

Staff now plan on rescuing the pups mom and auntie but for now they are enjoying some quality time with their dad Tank, who was a homeless dog known to Hope for Paws.

Watch the incredible pup rescue below:

It’s truly amazing what staff went through to rescue these puppies.

Please share if you agree we need more people like Hagar and his team in the world.